Naboth's Vineyard

¹Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in qJezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ²And after this Ahab said to Naboth, r“Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” ³But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid sthat I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴And Ahab twent into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” ⁶And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸uSo she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to vthe elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. ⁹And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰And set two wworthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, x‘You have cursed1 God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” ¹¹And the men of his city, vthe elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, ¹²ythey proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. ¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

The Lord Condemns Ahab

¹⁷zThen the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in aSamaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ¹⁹And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: b“In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”

²⁰Ahab said to Elijah, c“Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because dyou have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and ewill cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ²²And I will make your house like fthe house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like gthe house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you hhave made Israel to sin. ²³And of Jezebel the Lord also said, i‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within jthe walls of Jezreel.’ ²⁴kAnyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

Ahab's Repentance

²⁵(lThere was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. ²⁶He acted very abominably in going after midols, as nthe Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

²⁷And when Ahab heard those words, he otore his clothes and pput sackcloth on his flesh and qfasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. ²⁸And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; rbut in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

A Life Pleasing to God

¹Finally, then, brothers,1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you dreceived from us ehow you ought to walk and fto please God, just as you are doing, that you gdo so more and more. ²For hyou know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, iyour sanctification:2 jthat you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴that each one of you know how to control his own kbody3 in holiness and lhonor, ⁵not in mthe passion of lust nlike the Gentiles owho do not know God; ⁶that no one transgress and pwrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is qan avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷For rGod has not called us for simpurity, but in holiness. ⁸Therefore twhoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, uwho gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹Now concerning vbrotherly love wyou have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been xtaught by God yto love one another, ¹⁰for that indeed is what zyou are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ado this more and more, ¹¹and to aspire bto live quietly, and cto mind your own affairs, and dto work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹²so that you may ewalk properly before foutsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, gthat you may not grieve as others do hwho have no hope. ¹⁴For isince we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him jthose who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For this we declare to you kby a word from the Lord,4 that lwe who are alive, who are left until mthe coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For nthe Lord himself will descend ofrom heaven pwith a cry of command, with the voice of qan archangel, and rwith the sound of the trumpet of God. And sthe dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be tcaught up together with them uin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so vwe will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image

¹King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits1 and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on uthe plain of Dura, in vthe province of Babylon. ²Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather wthe satraps, the prefects, and xthe governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ³Then wthe satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴And the herald yproclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O zpeoples, nations, and languages, ⁵that when you hear the asound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you bare to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately cbe cast into a burning fiery furnace.” ⁷Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all zthe peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

⁸Therefore at that time certain dChaldeans ecame forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹They declared2 to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰You, O king, fhave made a decree, that every man who ghears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, gshall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹And whoever does not fall down and worship cshall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹²There are certain Jews whom you have happointed over the affairs of vthe province of Babylon: iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, jpay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar kin furious rage commanded that iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵Now if you are ready when lyou hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.3 But if you do not worship, cyou shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And mwho is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

¹⁶iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so, nour God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was ofilled with fury, and the expression of his face pwas changed against iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army qto bind iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹Then these men were qbound in their cloaks, their tunics,5 their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²²Because the king's order was rurgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell qbound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴Then King Nebuchadnezzar was tastonished and rose up uin haste. He declared to his vcounselors, “Did we not cast three men wbound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, xwalking in the midst of the fire, and they yare not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like za son of the gods.”

²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, s“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the aMost High God, come out, and come here!” Then sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷And the bsatraps, the prefects, the governors, and vthe king's counselors gathered together and saw that cthe fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their dcloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ehas sent his angel and fdelivered his servants, who gtrusted in him, and set aside6 the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than hserve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹Therefore iI make a decree: Any jpeople, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego kshall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” ³⁰Then the king promoted sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in lthe province of Babylon.

Book Five

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

¹gOh give thanks to the Lord, hfor he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

²Let ithe redeemed of the Lord say so,

whom he has jredeemed from trouble1

³and kgathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

⁴Some lwandered in desert wastes,

finding no way mto a city to dwell in;

⁵hungry and thirsty,

their soul nfainted within them.

⁶Then they ocried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷He led them by pa straight way

till they reached ma city to dwell in.

⁸qLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

⁹For he rsatisfies the longing soul,

sand the hungry soul he fills with good things.

¹⁰tSome sat in darkness and in uthe shadow of death,

prisoners in vaffliction and in irons,

¹¹for they whad rebelled against the words of God,

and xspurned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;

they fell down, ywith none to help.

¹³zThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of adarkness and the shadow of death,

and bburst their bonds apart.

¹⁵cLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

¹⁶For he dshatters the doors of bronze

and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷Some were efools through their sinful ways,

and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;

¹⁸fthey loathed any kind of food,

and they gdrew near to hthe gates of death.

¹⁹iThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

²⁰He jsent out his word and khealed them,

and ldelivered them from their destruction.

²¹mLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

²²And let them noffer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

and otell of his deeds in psongs of joy!

²³Some qwent down to the sea in ships,

doing business on the great waters;

²⁴they saw the deeds of the Lord,

his wondrous works in the deep.

²⁵For he rcommanded and sraised the stormy wind,

which lifted up the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;

their courage tmelted away in their evil plight;

²⁷they reeled and ustaggered like drunken men

and vwere at their wits' end.2

²⁸wThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

²⁹He xmade the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰Then they were glad that the waters3 were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.

³¹yLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

³²Let them zextol him in athe congregation of the people,

and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³He bturns rivers into a desert,

springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁴ca fruitful land into a salty waste,

because of the evil of its inhabitants.

³⁵He dturns a desert into pools of water,

ea parched land into springs of water.

³⁶And there he lets the hungry dwell,

and they establish fa city to live in;

³⁷they sow fields and plant vineyards

and get a fruitful yield.

³⁸gBy his blessing they multiply greatly,

and he does not let their livestock diminish.

³⁹When they are diminished and brought low

through oppression, evil, and sorrow,

⁴⁰hhe pours contempt on princes

and imakes them wander jin trackless wastes;

⁴¹but khe raises up the needy out of affliction

and lmakes their families like flocks.

⁴²mThe upright see it and are glad,

and nall wickedness shuts its mouth.

⁴³oWhoever is wise, let him attend to these things;

let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.